~| Day 1, 20:10 GST (8 hours and 40 minutes after the attack)|~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Sith Sector: Ven’ren, Jakali & Jewel |~
Ven'ren felt much better being off the planet and at the prison ship. His moment of peace on the planet had been short lived, the uncanny feeling of mixed belonging and the emotions of those who fought and died at the temple had come back once he was in sight of the jedi prisoners being brought aboard the shuttle. He had spent the rest of the time trying to concentrate on his surroundings despite the bombardment of input. He had to rely on sight and hearing more that he liked, his force-senses being so muddled.
The ship however, was quiet, and he had used the time after boarding when he was no trailing after his master to get used to the facilities and especially the place he was going to sleep in. He had been on a ship like this before, but it was smaller, taking a maximum of eight prisoners. His room, while offering a little less privacy than he would have wished, was far nicer this time around. He wandered the rest of the ship, still in his armour. His boots making clinking sounds warning people someone was there half a corridor away.
Jakali exited the lift to the Darth’s quarters. a smile on his face, a genuine one for once. He adjusted his robe, the hood lowered then checked once more to make sure he had his lightsaber on him after the previous incident with it. As he reached into his robe he heard footsteps moving towards him, loud ones at that. Probably not an assaliant if they were making that much noise, of a very stupid one. He moved towards the sound, then turned a corridor to see the figure coming towards him, another Sith, he wasn’t sure who exactly.
“You know I heard you from a mile away with those boots on. Still in your armor?” Jakali asked, raising one eyebrow as he spoke to the figure, it would have been odd for him not to since the person must have seen him come around the corner.
Ven'ren listed his head to the person addressing him. His own face could still not be seen for the mask.
“Greetings. You must be...” he made a pause as he tried to match the face in front of him with one of the images of the other sith that were supposed to also be on the ship. “Jakali.” He settled on, hoping his memory had matched the right face and name, before returning to the question he was asked. He looked down on his robes as if he’d have to check.
“Well, so it appears. Not that I think that should be so strange. I was under the impression this was not going to be a safe trip.” There is some humor in his voice, that can be heard clearly through the slightly odd inflection he speaks with.
“That’s the right mindset I suppose, but what if you had encountered a more paranoid Sith than I? A masked, armored man approaching me might have put me on the edge if I were that kind of man. Luckily I am not” Jakali said, then crossed his arms, thinking who the Sith might be. “What is your name, you know mine, I don’t have the pleasure of knowing yours.”
“I see.” Ven answered cordially. “I have no intention of intimidating any of my new allies, I assure you. I just look like this, I’m afraid.” He tilts his head to the side. “I am glad you are understanding.” he says before nodding politely. “I am Ven’ren. Good to meet you. How do you find our new temporary home?”
“It has its benefits,” Jakali said, wondering it the man had heard the turbolift to Nyiss’ quarters descend before, of if he had heard Jakali exit that very same lift. “It is nice to meet you too, Ven’ren, you are Lord Jewel’s apprentice, correct?” He asked, already knowing the answer.
“Indeed.” the other sith responded, not making clear if he answered the first statement or the question. “Say, have you had time to meet my master? Or perhaps, of more interest, have you had time to meet any of the prisoners?” Now in conversation, Ven started walking again, thinking the other sith would follow. He had not had the stride of someone getting to somewhere specific, in Ven’ren mind. He stopped a moment in front of the Darth’s lift before simply continuing, if he wanted to ask about it, he didn’t do so immediately.
“I have not yet me here, though I would like to. I have heard many things about her, you are quite lucky to have her as your master. But, yes, I’ve met a few of the prisoners, they are interesting, that is a word for it I suppose?” Jakali stated, following Ven as the man walked past, then towards the lift before passing that too.
“Why do you ask?” He asked, catching up and walking alongside of the other Sith.
Ven was silent for a while as if thinking about why he asked.
“We are here for their sake, are we not? Sill, I have not had the pleasure of making their acquaintance in any personal fashion as of yet. And while I am certain I was brought here more for my master’s purpose than anything else.” He made a nod back towards the lift to indicate the Darth. “All my files has certainly been looked through and I do have a specific point of view from which to approach these people, naturally.” He said this as if it was obvious, though he had made no mention at all to what he was talking about.
“We’re here for our sake, the Jedi are our captives. They’re our enemies, have been for centuries, this situation is complex, it is best for you to continue to follow your master, she is a very skilled Sith in more ways than just combat,” Jakali said, turning his head towards Ven as they walked. “Approach who? The Jedi?” He asked.
Ven shook his head, but not necessarily to answer anything. “What brings you to this place then, Jakali? If not the prisoners? And of course they are our enemies.” He didn’t quite chuckle, but there was humour in his voice again “who isn’t?” The last question was simply abandoned.
“The same thing that everyone of us is here for but too dishonest to admit it, the Jedi are just part of it.” Jakali said. Not adding onto the vague sentence. He just looked at the masked man again. “You’re not wrong, Ven’ren, we do have a lot of enemies.” He said with a laugh.
Ven'ren smiled, though of course that could not be seen from the outside. Having finished looking at nearly every part of the ship that did not currently host a person, he headed back to the sith common room. Once there, he subconsciously wandered towards Jewels and his rooms. “We do. Sometimes, I can't tell my friends and my enemies apart!” He chuckles slightly. “Sometimes the reason I can't is because they are the very same people.” He says as if it was rather amusing and interesting, rather than troubling.
Lord Jewel Namore had been sitting quietly in the open area of her room, studying the dossier’s on the other Sith in great detail, looking for any and every advantage she could gain over them. Some of the reports were the official ones, but most were what her personal intelligence network had managed to either gather or decrypt from other networks. She stifled her surprise when the door opened, revealing not only her apprentice in full armor, but another Sith too. She tapped a few buttons on the datapad she was holding to hide away the information and re-encrypt it before standing.
“Making new friends Ven’ren?” She said, the condescension thick in her voice. She was wearing her standard lightly armored clothes, her lightsaber hanging at her side. She fixed the unknown Sith with a mild glare, finding herself faintly annoyed that he was roughly the same height as her.
“Oh, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, my lord,” Jakali said, surprised that Ven had managed to lead him right to his master, inadvertently it seemed, unless he had missed a conspiracy plot, but he was sure it wasn’t that as his master hadn’t tried to strike down Jakali right as he entered the room, if it were a plot. Well, yet. He dropped to one knee, as was customary when greeting Sith Lords. “When I met Ven’ren and figured out who he was I did tell him that I had heard great things about his master, but I did not expect him to lead me to right into your room. He is truly lucky to have you as his master.” Jakali added with a smile.
Ven'ren first bowed as he saw his master in the room and then, following his previous though, answered her.
“I don't know, Master, it is hard to tell sometimes.” He turned to Jakali and asked lightly “So are you a friend or an enemy or both?” As he was mostly joking, he did not expect an answer but instead quietly added a “Sorry about that” as to his unthinkingly leading the other sith into his master’s chamber, and then returned his attention back to Jewel, as not paying attention to her while she was present tended to be unwise.
“Sith don’t have friends.” Jewel said, absently correcting her acolyte. “Anyone who claims to be your friend is simply waiting for the chance to take advantage of you.” She was happy to see this newcomer observing proper respect for her though. Her apprentice may not really think things through all that often, but at least he seemed to have decent taste in people. Still, she did not state that he could rise. She would leave the newcomer, Jakali Harcor according to her files, kneeling for a moment longer, to make sure he knew his place.
Jakali’s eyes followed Jewel from his knelt position, she had not said a word to him, instead correcting her apprentice about friendship. It wasn’t bad advice, but it wasn’t something Jakali agreed with, friendship is one of the easiest ways to manipulate someone. Though he always made sure he was the one who made friends, not others making him one of theirs, then the Lord’s words held more merit. He did not speak nor rise, instead he kept knelt down, his eyes towards the ground.
“Of course, Master.” Ven’ren bowed again, to show that he had understood. He had, of course, not planned to trust anyone on the ship, but he still did not at all mind being friendly with the people he would have to spend time with anyway. He knew what it was like to spend two years only snarling at every living being that came near. It protected you from treason, but was exhausting in the long run. He didn’t need to
tell people he wasn't going to trust them. They could probably figure that out by themselves.
“Master, this is Jakali.” He said as he realized no formal introduction had been made. It was for politeness rather than anything else. His master had access to the same holorecordings as he had, and certainly already knew the name of the man in front of her.
“You may rise Harcor.” Jewel stated formally, making use of his second name, which had not been said, to make sure he knew that she knew him regardless of her apprentices introduction. “Ven’ren. Have you introduced yourself to any of the Jedi yet?” She asked sternly. She had nothing else to say to Jakali at this point, if he was going to think of a way to make this apparently chance visit useful to him, then that was up to him. Jewel gave nothing for free.
“Yes, my lord,” Jakali replied, then rose to his feet. Silent until he had waited for her to finish speaking, when he sure she was and he had the opportunity to, he did. “He has not yet, if I may interject, we spoke of this very same topic on the walk to here. Your apprentice seemed eager to meet the Jedi, I already have met several of them myself. They are an interesting group of captives”
Ven’ren nodded affirmatively to what Jakali said, but answered himself as well.
“No, master, I have not.” He did not leave to rectify this, however, until formally dismissed.
“Then go and meet them now. I look forward to your report.” Jewel said to Ven’ren, expecting him to obey immediately. With that she turned to Jakali “Is that so?” She said, with slight sarcasm. “Perhaps you should tell me about them then.” She half suggested, half commanded.
“Yes, my Lord.” Ven'ren bowed and turned on his heel, leaving the room immediately. He did not spare Jakali a glance, but his breath sounded a little like 'good luck' when he passed. Whether it was intended sincere or sarcastic could not be determined.
“As you wish, my lord. I have met with three of the Jedi. First two of the younger ones, a human male, I believe only a recent Knight and a Twi’lek girl, only an apprentice but not of that Knight. The two share a close bond as I found out further along my encounter with them. An intense friendship, possibly with unspoken romantic feelings.” Jakali said, speaking clearly to Jewel before he paused and recalled the other Jedi he had encountered on the ship.
“The other was a Kaminoan, a most peculiar and rare being, not like many other Jedi. Our encounter was more of a debate than anything else, he strongly defended his side of the debate, as did I. Darth Nyiss had already spoken with that one, I believe she captured him personally. I also conversed with her lordship as well, not that long ago actually, she is a fascinating woman, one of great power and beauty.” He said, a grin creeping onto his face as he recalled their ‘encounter’.
“Interesting.” Jewel said, her tone genuine this time. Her face changed to a scowl when Nyiss was mentioned though. This apprentice had had the nerve to bypass Jewel and meet directly with the Darth. He may not be her own apprentice, but she still deserved more respect.
Jakali noticed how Jewel’s face changed to a scowl when he namedropped the Darth, he guessed that he must have hit a bad nerve.
“Did I say something bad, my lord?” Jakali asked, one eyebrow raised, unhappy that he had already pissed off a very powerful woman he had just met, then he thought of more to say. “I would have made it a priority to see you first, my lord, if I knew where exactly you were located at the time. Truthfully they didn’t tell me where everyone was located and I felt it may have been improper to ask someone.” He added.
Jewel’s eyes narrowed as Jakali tried to talk his way out, hitting on the thing that had upset her with surprising insight. It disgusted her. He was trying to save face instead of acknowledging he was a fool. “My patience grows thin Harcor.” She said coldly. “If you have a reason to still be here, say so quickly. Otherwise do not waste any more of my time.”
“I shall depart then, my lord. I’m sure you have work to do and the last thing I would want to do is interfere with that. Good day.” Jakali said with a slight bow of respect then turned towards the door, a chill running down his spine as he left, he didn’t even do anything that extreme and had angered her.
“Good.” Jewel said briefly, turning her back to him as he left. She forgot almost every aspect of the meeting as soon as Jakali left, pulling up her notes again. One thing stuck with her - his report on the Jedi. If there really was a romantic bond between two of them, they might be the perfect pair for her to begin with. Such a thing was a rare joy to exploit and push to the limit in Jedi.
